Kibbe on Liberty | Ep 361: "The Media Is Dishonest About Guns"
Guest: Dr. John Lott (Crime Prevention Research Center)
Host: Matt Kibbe (Blaze Podcast Network)
Date: November 19, 2025
Duration: ~1 hour, 3 minutes

Overview

In this episode, Matt Kibbe sits down with Dr. John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, to discuss media misrepresentation of gun violence, the real impact of gun-free zones, the effectiveness of armed citizens, the truth behind firearm statistics, and government-driven narratives on public safety and speech. Drawing on Lott’s academic and policy experience—including his time in the Trump administration—the conversation deep-dives into the empirical evidence behind gun debates, how bureaucratic and media incentives shape public opinion, and the suppression of contrarian voices.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Media Bias and Misrepresentation of Gun Violence

• Gun-Free Zones Attract Killers:

  • Dr. Lott highlights that mass shooters often explicitly target gun-free zones to maximize casualties, as repeated in their own manifestos.
    • “The murderer ... explicitly explained why he picked the target that he did ... what he learned from [other shooters] ... was to go to a gun free zone.” — Lott (05:11)
  • Despite direct evidence in perpetrators’ writings, media often omits these motivations, instead suggesting alternative, less relevant reasons.

• Underreporting Defensive Gun Use:

  • Major outlets rarely report on incidents where armed civilians stop mass shootings, providing a skewed perspective.
    • “On our website ... since 2020, we have like 50 cases where police have said if it hadn’t been for the presence of a concealed carry permit holder, it would have been a mass public shooting.” — Lott (09:19)
  • Examples cited where citizen intervention stopped attacks often receive only local coverage, unlike widely publicized tragedies.

• International Comparisons Manipulated:

  • U.S. isn’t among the top 50 per capita in mass shootings, but media and politicians often compare raw numbers instead of rates, ignoring population differences.
    • “We’re not even in the top 50 in per capita rates that are there ... Germany ... if you adjust, that’d be the equivalent of us having over 12 ... Finland ... would be like us having over 120.” — Lott (08:02)

2. Emotional Narratives versus Data

• Emotionalism Drives Policy:
  • Kibbe and Lott agree that much of gun policy is driven by fear and emotion rather than logic and data.
    • “Anything about guns is fundamentally argued from a point of view of emotion instead of facts and logic ... evidence is so obvious that gun free zones are dangerous.” — Kibbe (06:25)
  • “Most of the gun control debate is about what might possibly go wrong ... but with all these schools over all these years, you would think you could point to one case where those types of things have happened and they can’t do that.” — Lott (32:25)

3. Government & Social Media Censorship

• Suppression of Dissent:

  • Discussions about manifestos and attacker motivation are often censored or limited on social platforms and in mainstream reporting, especially when they contradict dominant narratives.
    • “I had tweeted that out immediately, got my account blocked and told that I needed to take it down and apologize for doing that.” — Lott, on the New Zealand shooter’s manifesto (16:40)
  • Kibbe connects gun control censorship to broader COVID-era suppression of dissenting public-health narratives, noting coordination between government and tech companies.

• Debanking and Bureaucratic Suppression:

  • The Obama and Biden administrations used tools like Operation Choke Point and zero-tolerance licensing to financially throttle gun shops, making business nearly impossible via minor administrative errors.
    • “If you made ... one paperwork mistake ... over like the last 18 or 19 years ... they would take away your license...” — Lott (36:45)

4. Police vs. Civilians in Stopping Attacks

• Civilians Often More Successful:

  • Lott’s research shows armed civilians are statistically more likely to stop active shootings than uniformed police and with lower risk to themselves.
    • “Civilians actually stopped more of these attacks than police did ... police were seven times more likely to get killed ... It’s kind of like having a neon sign above them when they’re in uniform saying shoot me first.” — Lott (25:04)

• Law of Large Numbers—Neighborhood Defense:

  • Decentralized defense (many concealed carriers) offers broader, more immediate protection than limited, centrally managed police forces.

5. Gun-Free School Zones: Real Outcomes

• Zero Fatalities Where Teachers Armed:
  • Over 14,000 U.S. schools have armed staff—with no reported deaths or injuries in such settings, suggesting efficacy over time.
    • “There’s not been one single attack in a school where any teachers or staff have carried where anybody’s been wounded or killed.” — Lott (05:57)

6. Government Data & Reporting Flaws

• Background Check Errors:

  • NICS background checks have vast numbers of false positives, disproportionally affecting minorities, yet are touted as key success statistics by gun-control advocates.
    • “If private companies had an error rate that was 100th the error rate that the federal government does ... they’d be sued out of existence.” — Lott (20:20)

• FBI Reporting on Defensive Use:

  • FBI claims only 4% of shootings are stopped by armed citizens, but Lott finds it to be as high as 36%—and even over 50% when excluding gun-free zones.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Media and Gun-Free Zones:

  • “Rather than having a sign in front of a school that says the school is a gun free zone, have a sign ... that says select teachers and staff ... are carrying concealed and will use them to go and stop the attackers.” — Lott (05:43)

• On Emotional Rhetoric vs. Evidence:

  • “At some point, rather than just saying what might possibly happen, let’s look to see what actually happens ... and get by the emotional argument that you point out.” — Lott (32:52)

• On Censorship:

  • “To me, a lot of the public health people were involved in the censoring ... just because public health people are deeply involved in the gun control debate.” — Lott (35:10)

• Comparing U.S. and International Regulations:

  • “You’re basically not allowed to hunt in France without having a silencer on your gun.” — Lott (28:14)

• On Administrative Weaponization:

  • “Maybe we should apply that to government agencies. If there’s a government agency that makes a typo in any paperwork form, then we should shut it down.” — Lott (39:45)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Media Bias & School Shooters’ Motivations – 04:00–09:30
• International Comparisons of Mass Shootings – 09:30–11:30
• Defensive Gun Use Underreported by Media – 09:19–12:30
• How Gun-Free Zones Fail – 04:45–07:40
• FBI Crime Data & Background Check Errors – 18:23–24:00
• Civilian vs. Police Success in Active Shooters – 24:00–28:00
• Censorship, Covid, and Free Speech – 33:30–35:10
• Operation Choke Point & Regulatory Suppression – 36:45–40:08
• Trump-Era Policies on Crime and Gun Rights – 42:00–53:00
• Summary of Research and How to Support – 58:40–60:51

Tone, Style & Closing Reflections

The conversation is driven by a shared frustration with prevailing narratives and a belief in empirical, reality-based policymaking. Lott’s style is methodical and data-driven, while Kibbe provides a philosophical, liberty-oriented grounding. Both bemoan a culture where “emotionalism trumps facts” and stress the need for “fiercely independent” inquiry in public debate. The show closes with gratitude, a summary of Lott’s organization’s resources, and a plug for supporting independent research and liberty-driven media.

How to Find More

• Crime Prevention Research Center: crimeresearch.org
• Kibbe on Liberty Archives: freethepeople.org/kol

For listeners who want the real data on guns, crime, and the choke points in public debate, this episode offers an unfiltered, challenging counter-narrative to media soundbites and bureaucratic norms.